‘Us’ and ‘Them’: The Role of Christianity in Korean American Identity Formation
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Post-1965 Korean immigrants came to America with idealized perceptions of American societies based on the disparity between Korea and America in many ways. However, South Korean economic development in the 1970s and 1980s reduced the gaps in living conditions between the two countries and enabled South Koreans to achieve the advanced lives which marked the American Dream of Korean immigrants. Furthermore, the Los Angeles Riot in 1992 shattered the naive belief of Korean immigrants that America is an ideal society for immigrants. These factors motivated Korean Americans to reflect on their status as one of the racial and ethnic minority groups in American society. Based on these transformations of Korean American conditions, this paper examines Protestant narratives of post-1965 Korean American Christian leaders, with regard to how they promote their American identity in relationship with non-Koreans in America through Christian narratives. Influenced by the pre-immigrant racial perceptions of Korean immigrants, Protestant narratives reflect Korean Americans' resistance to being treated as just one of the marginalized minorities or being subsumed into the category of Asian Americans. Rather they promote unique identity as the second Puritans in American society based on the Korean historical tradition and the numerically large number of Christian churches among Korean American communities. Their identification with the American Puritans and their manifest destiny to revive Christianity in America demonstrate their racial attitudes toward non-Korean ethnic groups in America. In other words, Christianity serves as an agent for Korean immigrants and their children to feel more meaningful in America than being a marginalized minority group. They conflate their Christian identity and Korean ethnic identity and stand apart from the rest of the society which is not Christian enough from their perspectives.
Abstract
Post-1965 Korean immigrants came to America with idealized perceptions of American societies based on the disparity between Korea and America in many ways. However, South Korean economic development in the 1970s and 1980s reduced the gaps in living conditions between the two countries and enabled South Koreans to achieve the advanced lives which marked the American Dream of Korean immigrants. Furthermore, the Los Angeles Riot in 1992 shattered the naive belief of Korean immigrants that America is an ideal society for immigrants. These factors motivated Korean Americans to reflect on their status as one of the racial and ethnic minority groups in American society. Based on these transformations of Korean American conditions, this paper examines Protestant narratives of post-1965 Korean American Christian leaders, with regard to how they promote their American identity in relationship with non-Koreans in America through Christian narratives. Influenced by the pre-immigrant racial perceptions of Korean immigrants, Protestant narratives reflect Korean Americans' resistance to being treated as just one of the marginalized minorities or being subsumed into the category of Asian Americans. Rather they promote unique identity as the second Puritans in American society based on the Korean historical tradition and the numerically large number of Christian churches among Korean American communities. Their identification with the American Puritans and their manifest destiny to revive Christianity in America demonstrate their racial attitudes toward non-Korean ethnic groups in America. In other words, Christianity serves as an agent for Korean immigrants and their children to feel more meaningful in America than being a marginalized minority group. They conflate their Christian identity and Korean ethnic identity and stand apart from the rest of the society which is not Christian enough from their perspectives.
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